Green Step for Active Oxygens
Case studies showcase green potential of Active Oxygens products in diverse growth industries.
Today,
Evonik's Active Oxygens business line announced a new sustainability strategy aimed at increasing the beneficial handprint of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, and persulfates while reducing their environmental footprint. With the goal of achieving climate neutrality across the business line by 2040, the strategy includes concrete steps to reduce carbon emissions and increase resource efficiency in the production of these chemicals. In addition, Active Oxygens wants to promote these chemistries as environmentally friendly alternatives in a variety of growing industries.
Peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and persulfates are powerful oxidants with a wide range of applications. They are considered some of the cleanest chemicals available because they break down quickly into harmless substances — mostly just oxygen and water.Yet upstream, conventionally producing these versatile substances leaves a carbon footprint.
“Global demand for hydrogen peroxide is rising by seven to eight percent every year, driven by growth fields such as chemical synthesis, environmental applications, nutrition, and electronics,” says Robert Katzer, head of Strategic Marketing for the Active Oxygens business line. “This makes it particularly urgent to reduce this product’s environmental footprint. Fortunately, the technology is there, and we have a step-by-step plan to meet this rising demand in a clean, green manner.”
One lever is the use of renewable energy sources. By the end of 2021, more than 80% of the electricity used at Active Oxygens' manufacturing facilities around the world would have come from renewable sources. In 2023, this percentage is expected to exceed 90%. Over the next ten years, new solutions for heat pumps and efficient energy reuse will be implemented, according to the strategy. By 2032, the business line hopes to have its first fully climate-neutral manufacturing facility up and running.
In addition, Active Oxygens is pursuing ambitious plans to switch fossil-based raw materials in its production processes to, for example, bio-based acetic acid and green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is created through water electrolysis powered by renewable electricity. The business line is currently exploring options to locally source sustainable hydrogen at each of its sites around the globe. The first plant is scheduled to begin utilizing green hydrogen in 2026, with the rest following soon thereafter.
On the customer side, using hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, and persulfates can contribute to greener industrial processes. “As the population grows, global megatrends such as urbanization are bringing about massive changes,” explains Robert Katzer. “This is where our products can contribute to more sustainable solutions. For example, treating wastewater with hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid results in far fewer residues in the environment than using other chemicals. It can save energy, too: Hydrogen peroxide can pre-treat industrial wastewater, oxidating non-biological contaminants that would otherwise need to be incinerated in an energy-intensive process. We are working together with customers across the world to implement and expand the use of these technologies.”
Another important application of hydrogen peroxide is chemical synthesis, which places a premium on resource efficiency. Propylene oxide and propylene glycol production, for example, can result in unwanted by-products. Evonik Active Oxygens' proprietary technology uses hydrogen peroxide for direct synthesis of these in-demand products, providing an innovative, sustainable, and efficient alternative.
As a business line within Evonik’s Smart Materials division, Active Oxygens’ sustainability goals particularly support the division’s “Eco Solutions” growth field. Eco Solutions are applications that save resources and enable environmentally friendly processes. Smart Materials aims to generate EUR 900 million in sales from Eco Solutions by 2027.
The new strategy also contributes to the Evonik group’s overall sustainability approach. This approach is based on ambitious targets and key activities to translate them into measurable actions. Sustainability forms an integral part of the strategy and commercial activities of Evonik and all of its business lines, with the company systematically focusing on the impact of its activities along the entire value chain, based on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Evonik is one of the leading companies in the chemical industry for sustainability, backed up by the results of important independent rating and ranking agencies such as MSCI, Sustainalytics, EcoVadis, and CDP.
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